Ball joint assembly

ABSTRACT

Compact ball joint assembly for piping system has ball and socket portions which may be formed of pipe. A reaction member held internally of the socket portion by retaining means such as a retaining ring or radially extending socket screws provides a support for a plurality of adjustment screws which can be moved in a direction parallel to the axis of the socket portion for forcing a pressure ring positioned for axial movement within the socket against a sealing ring which bears against the ball portion of the joint.

United States Patent [191 Fessleret a].

[ 1 BALL JOINT ASSEMBLY [75] Inventors: Leroy E. Fessler, Roselle; WayneM.

Davis, Highland Park, both of 111.

[73] Assignee: Universal Oil Products Company,

Des Plaines, 111.

[22] Filed: Dec. 20, 1971 {21] Appl. No.: 213,692

[52] US. Cl 285/270, 285/321, 285/342 [51] Int. C1. Fl6l 27/06 58] Fieldof Search 285/261, 263, 270, 285/271, 321, 342; 287/90 R, 90 C, 87

[56] v References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,602,532 8/1971 Ehrenberg285/364 1,197,588 9/1916 Austin 285/270 2/19 66 Brown 285/261 X [451June 26, 1973 1,346,524 7/1920 Bard 285/271 2,877,732 3/1959 Eaton285/321 X 908,4.14 12/1908 Mellin 285/270 X 900,603 10/1908 Silk 285/270Primary ExaminerThomas F. Callaghan Attorney-James R. Hoatson, Jr.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT Compact ball joint assembly for piping system has balland socket portions which may be formed of pipe. A reaction member heldinternally of the socket portion by retaining means such as a retainingring or radially extending socket screws provides a support for aplura1- ity of adjustment screws which can be moved in a directionparallel to the axis of the socket portion for forcing a pressure ringpositioned for axial movement within the socket against a sealing ringwhich bears against the ball portion of the joint.

12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEflaunzsmza gure [/0 f fgo H'gure 2Prior Art BALL JOINT ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to ball joints and particularly to ball joints of the type usedin piping systems. Although the invention is useful for pipes as smallas one inch, it is especially useful for larger size pipes, such asthose of a diameter of 4 inches or more.

In large buildings, and other facilities such as chemi-. cal processingplants, large numbers of pipes are used to carry water, steam, air,chemicals and other fluids. For providing ease of access to these pipesand to take up as little usable space as possible, such pipes arecommonly grouped together and mounted on ceilings or in walls or carriedin tunnels or through other passageways. Obviously, the more spaceconsumed by the pipes, the higher the ceilings must be, the thicker thewalls, and the larger the tunnels. Increasing the dimensions of thepassageway, particularly when it is an underground tunnel, isveryexpensive. Thus, it is desirable that the pipes require'as littlespace as possible.

' One major factor'which determines the space require ment is the majordiameter of the ball joint members used to connect sections of pipe. Theball joints comm'only used and those shown in the prior art, such as US.Pat. No. 908,414 and US. Pat'. No. 1,197,588,

have an outer diameter which is much greater than the diameter ofthepipe with which they are used. For example, one commerciallyavailable'ball joint for an 8 inch pipe has a 14'-% inch outerdiameterfThe large diameter results from the fact thatthe socket memberwhich receives the ball end portion of the ball joint assemblyhasoutwardly extending flanges which are attached by a plurality ofbolts to a pressure plate which, in turn, carries additional bolts toapply pressureto a sealing means. Although some ball joints, such asthose disclosed in U.S.Iat. No. 908,414, utilizean externally threadedcapmember or an internally threaded member as an alternative to using aflanged portion for providing sealing pressure, the use of threadedmembers is generally limited to the smaller sizes of pipe, such as underfour inches. This is so' since. the provision of threads would greatlyweaken thesocket portion'of the joint. For example, the FIG.5 embodimentof [1.8; Pat. No. 908,414 shows that the socket has its end flangedoutwardly so that the wall thickness is increased to provide materialfor the threads;

- SUMMARY The ball joint of the present invention has a major diameterwhich is much less, as compared to the diameter of the pipe with whichit is used, than the same dimension on prior art pipe joints. Forexample, a ball joint for an 8 inch pipe may have an outer diameter of12-54 inch as compared to the 14 inch'outer diameter of theaforementioned prior art ball joint. The 2 inch difference in-outerdiameters is very significant, especially when one considers that thesmallest'square opening into which the prior art joint may be placed hasan area 33 percent larger than is necessary for the joint of theinvention. The improved pipe joint is also: more economical tomanufacture; simpler tomanufacture; more efficiently sealed; and capableof a greater freedom of movement than presently available pipe joints.

The improved ball joint of the present invention elim-, inates theflanges used in prior art ball joints. A retain- Similarly, the outerend 18 of ball member 14 is chaming means is attached to the interior ofthe open end of the socketbody portion of the joint and is held in apredetermined axial position by means such as a snap ring mounted in theinner wall of the socket or by radially extending socket screws or otherfasteners which extend radially through the socket'body. Since thesocket body may be fabricated of wrought metal such as a length of pipeor from rolled and welded plate, the expense and the inherent problemsoften found with forgings or castings can be eliminated. The ball jointis sealed by an outer sealing ring which is forced into firm contactwith the ball portion of the joint by a pressure ring which is shaped toexert a force normal to the ball at the same time that the pressure ringis moved longitudinally by means of axially extending screws which arecarried by the retaining ring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 but showing amodified form of pressure ring retaining means;,and,

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to FIG. 1 showing aprior art ball joint assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a balljoint assembly indicated generally at 10 includes a socket memberindicated generally at 12 and a ball member indicated generally at 14.The socket member 12 terminates at its inner or closed end in achamfered annular surface 16 which is adapted to' be welded to a lengthof pipe (not shown).

fered and of an annular shape adapted to be welded to a length of pipe(not shown). Although the socket member'lZ could be formed bycasting orforging it is preferably and far more economical to form it from 'eithera cylindrical section of pipe asshown at 20 or from plate material whichhas been rolled into a cylindrical shape and welded. After the outerwall of the socket member 12 is formed from a cylindrical pipe section20, the socket member is completed by using a weld joint 22 to attachthe pipe section 20 to a reducer member 24 which may be formed by astamping operation.

If desired, the reducer member 24 may be strengthened by means of weldedgusset plates 26.

The ball member 14 may be turned from a thick walled tubular member soas to form a spherically surfaced ball portion 30 and a narrow'walledtubular portion 32. The ball member could also'be formed in other ways,such as by casting or forging or in the case of small sizes of pipe, byexpanding a portion of the pipe to form the spherically surfaced ballportion.

The socket member 12 includes an internal socket wall 36 which definesan interior chamber 38. Posiseals 40, 42 may be made of any suitablematerial, such as an elastomeric material, plastics, carbon, or ceramicsand are spaced from each other on opposite sides of a transverse planewhich is normal to the axis of ball member 14 and passes through thecenter of its spherically surfaced ball portion 30. The inner and outerseals 40, 42 provide the only regions of contact between the ball member14 and the socket member 12. In order to provide a positive sealingbetween the ball and socket members 12, 14 upon initial assembly orafter wear of the seals has taken place a pressure ring 44 is providedwhich may be moved axially into engagement with outer seal 42 by meansofa plurality of adjusting screws 46 spaced around the periphery of ring44. Once the adjusting screws 46 are tightened so as to exert thedesired amount of pressure on pressure ring 44 a plurality of lockscrews 48 are screwed into place in threaded holes 50 to prevent theadjusting screws 46 from moving out of their adjusted position. In orderto allow the various portions of the joint assembly to be assembled andto provide a reaction member to absorb the thrust of the adjustingscrews 46, a thrust ring 54 is provided which is held in place againstthe internal socket wall 36 and in a predetermined axial position bymeans of fastener means such as socket screws 58 which pass throughradial holes in the pipe section 20 and are threaded into holes 62 inthe thrust ring 54. The screws 58 are positioned uniformly around theperiphery of the socket member 12 in order to firmly hold the thrustplate 54 in position.

In order to apply relatively uniform pressure along the entire lengthofouter seal 42 the seal is preferably provided with an angled surface66 which is engaged-by a correspondingly angled surface 68 on thepressure ring 44. The angled surfaces cooperate so that an axial loadapplied by adjusting screws 46 to the transverse end surface 70 of thepressure ring 44 causes a movement of the seal 42 into engagement withthe ball portion 30 in a generally radial direction. Such a loading ofthe seal helps to relieve stress concentrations in the seal and alsohelps to prevent the seal from being extruded outwardly from between theball surface 30 and the pressure ring 44.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention which is generallyidentical to the embodiment of FIG. 1 except that a thrust ring 154 isheld in position within the chamber 138 by a fastener means in the formof a snap or retaining ring 158 rather than by radial screws such as thescrews 58 shown in FIG. 1. The elements 110, 112, 114, 120, 136, 138,142, 144, 146, 148, and 154 all correspond to the similarly numberedelements 10-54 in FIG. 1. The snap or retaining ring member 158isretained in a fixed axial position relative to the wall by a groove160 formed in the wall. The retaining ring 158 can have a relativelysmall depth since the main load it encounters is an axial shear loadalong the wall 136 which is restrained by transverse surface 164.

In view of the very large shear loads applied to the retaining ring 158shown in FIG. 2 it is highly desirable that the retaining ring be heldas tightly as possible against the outer walls of the groove 160 so asto eliminate any tendency it might have to twist and become removed fromthe groove. Preferably, the retaining ring member 158 is formed with apair of radially inwardly extending ears (FIG. 3) which may be pulledtoward each other to mount the ring in the groove 160. The ring 158 mayalso be spread apart after the ring has been placed in the groove bymeans of an adjustable spreading member such as the turnbuckel member169 which carries threaded shafts of opposite hand 171, 173 at itsopposite ends. The outer ends of the shafts 171, 173 are formed with ashape which is complementary to the shape of recessed portions 167formed in the ears 165 so that shafts 171, 173 will not rotate relativeto the ears 165. To tighten the retaining ring 158 within the groove 160the central portion of the turnbuckle member 169 is merely rotated tomove the screws 171, 173 until the ears are pressed apart. When it isdesired to remove the ring 158 from the groove 160 the turnbuckle member169 may be loosened and removed and the ears 165, pulled toward eachother in order to decrease the diameter of the ring 158 and permit itsremoval.

. FIG. 4 illustrates an additional embodiment of the invention which,like the embodiment of FIG. 2, differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1only in the manner in which the thrust ring 254 is fixed relative to thewall 220 of the socket member 212. Rather than have the thrust ring 254attached to the socket wall 120 by means of screws (FIG. 1) or by aseparate retaining ring (FIG. 2), the thrust ring 254 is itself formedas a retaining ring which is similar to the retaining ring 158 shown inFIGS. 2 and 3 in that it performs the function of holding itself inplace within a groove 260 formed in wall 220. Although not shown, thethrust ring 254 is preferably provided with an adjustment device, suchas the turnbuckle 169 shown in FIG. 3, in order to maintain it in tightengagement with the groove 260. The adjustment screws 246 in thisembodiment function in identical fashion to the screws 146 in theembodiment of FIG. 2 and engage the transversesurface 261 of pressurering 244.

As previously mentioned, the present invention, as exemplified by theembodiments of FIGS. 1-4, results in a ball joint which, at least forpipe sizes of 4 inch or more, has a maximum outer diameter which is muchless'than those found on prior art ball joints. Referring to the priorart ball joint shown in FIG. 5, which includes a socket member 312, aball member 314, a socket wall 320 and a sealing ring 342, it isapparent that the prior art joint is in many respects similar to theinstant embodiments. However, the prior art joint includes a rigidoutwardly projecting flange member 321 which extends from the wall 320.This outer flange 321 carries a plurality of bolts 347 which extendaxially through a pressure ring 344 which may be drawn into engagementwith sealing ring 342 by progressively tightening nut members 346 whichare spaced from the pressure ring 344 by lock washers 348. Since thebolts 347 must be of substantial diameter and the flange 321 must extenda sufficient distance beyond the bolts to permit them to be firmlyfastened, it is obvious that the prior art embodiment of FIG. 5 musthave a substantially greater outer diameter than the ball joint assemblyof the invention. Thus, it would take up substantially more space thanthe assembly of the invention for a given pipe size.

In addition to being compact as well as economical to manufacture, theimproved ball joint assembly also offers a greater movement range thanknown prior art devices. For example, in an 8 inch pipe size, theassembly provides about an 18 movement range as compared to a 15 rangein certain prior art assemblies. The larger movement range is possiblepartly because of the elimination of bolts and partly because of thediameter chosen for the spherical ball portion. The movement range ofthe ball member 14 is indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 1.

' We claim as our invention: 1

1. A ball joint assembly comprising a socket member defining an interiorchamber and a hollow ball member having a ball shaped outer surfaceportion and a tubular portion, said ball member being adapted to berecieved in said interior chamber through a first end thereof with saidtubular portion extending outwardly therefrom, first sealing meansmounted in said chamber for resisting axial movement of said ball memberinto said socket and second sealing means in said chamber adapted to becompressed against said ball member in a direction to force it againstsaid first sealing means, said firstand second sealing means beingpositioned in said interior chamber between the interior surface of saidsocket member and the ball shaped outer surface of said ball member;pressure ring means in said chamber and in contact with said secondsealing means; thrust ring meansspaced radially from said ball memherand located within saidinterior chamber in surrounding relationship tosaid tubular portion and at a predetermined distance relative to saidfirst end of said interior chamber; said thrust ring means having agreater cross-sectional dimension in the axial direction than in theradial direction and having an outer diameter equal to the innerdiameter of said'socket member for preventing rotation of said thrustring means relative to said socket member, fastening means for holdingsaid thrust ring means at at least a plurality of points around itsperiphery and preventing it from moving closer than said predetermineddistance relative to said first end of said interior chamber after ithas been located at said predetermined distance; and adjusting meansmounted in said thrust ring means and movable 3. The ball jointassemblyof claim 1 characterized in that inner and outer sealingrings'are positioned between said interior surfaceof said socket memberand the ball-shaped outer surface of said ball member at cations alongthe axis of said ball member which are on opposite sides of a planenormal to the axis of the ball member and passing through the center ofcurvature of the ball-shaped outer surface.

4. The ball joint assembly of claim 1 wherein said second sealing meanscomprises a sealing ring member and said pressure ring means comprisesan annular member having an outer, transverse bearing surface in contactwith a plurality of said adjusting means mounted in the thrust ringmeans, the inner, transverse surface of said annular member having atleast one am gled portion in contact with said at least one sealingmeans, said angled portion being at such an angle as to force saidsecond sealing means in a generally normal direction into engagementwith said ball-shaped surface when said adjusting means are moved towardsaid annular member.

5. The ball joint assembly of claim 4 wherein said sealing ring memberis' formed of elastomeric material.

6. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidfastening means is a retaining ring which is carried in a groove in theinner wall of said socket member.

7. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein saidretaining ring is discontinuous at one portion of its curcumference, theportions of said retaining ring adjacent said discontinuous portionextending radially inwardly so as to form ears which are adapted to beengaged by external means for squeezing them together to reduce themaximum diameter of the retaining ring and permit the retaining ring tobe assembled into said groove.

8. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 7 and furtherincluding means to force said ears away from each other so as toincrease the outer diameter of said retaining ring and permit it to morefirmly engage the outer wall of the groove in said inner wall of thesocket member.

9. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein said meansto hold said ears apart comprises a turnbuckle member.

10. A ball join assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidfastening means comprise radially positioned screws which pass throughthe outer wall of said socket member and into said thrust ring meansatpositions intermediate said adjusting means.

11. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said ballmember is mounted within said socket member for pivotal movement of atleast 15.

12. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said ballmember is mounted for pivotal movement within said socket member over amovement range of at least 18'.

1. A ball joint assembly comprising a socket member defining an interiorchamber and a hollow ball member having a ball shaped outer surfaceportion and a tubular portion, said ball member being adapted to berecieved in said interior chamber through a first end thereof with saidtubular portion extending outwardly therefrom, first sealing meansmounted in said chamber for resisting axial movement of said ball memberinto said socket and second sealing means in said chamber adapted to becompressed against said ball member in a direction to force it againstsaid first sealing means, said first and second sealing means beingpositioned in said interior chamber between the interior surface of saidsocket member and the ball shaped outer surface of saiD ball member;pressure ring means in said chamber and in contact with said secondsealing means; thrust ring means spaced radially from said ball memberand located within said interior chamber in surrounding relationship tosaid tubular portion and at a predetermined distance relative to saidfirst end of said interior chamber; said thrust ring means having agreater crosssectional dimension in the axial direction than in theradial direction and having an outer diameter equal to the innerdiameter of said socket member for preventing rotation of said thrustring means relative to said socket member, fastening means for holdingsaid thrust ring means at at least a plurality of points around itsperiphery and preventing it from moving closer than said predetermineddistance relative to said first end of said interior chamber after ithas been located at said predetermined distance; and adjusting meansmounted in said thrust ring means and movable into engagement with saidpressure ring means for forcing said pressure ring means against saidsecond sealing means, said thrust ring means and said fastening meansbeing removable from said socket member with said adjusting means intheir mounted position in said thrust ring means.
 2. The ball jointassembly of claim 1 characterized in that said socket member includes anouter wall which defines the major diameter of said ball joint assembly,said outer wall comprising the outer surface of a length of cylindricalpipe.
 3. The ball joint assembly of claim 1 characterized in that innerand outer sealing rings are positioned between said interior surface ofsaid socket member and the ball-shaped outer surface of said ball memberat locations along the axis of said ball member which are on oppositesides of a plane normal to the axis of the ball member and passingthrough the center of curvature of the ball-shaped outer surface.
 4. Theball joint assembly of claim 1 wherein said second sealing meanscomprises a sealing ring member and said pressure ring means comprisesan annular member having an outer, transverse bearing surface in contactwith a plurality of said adjusting means mounted in the thrust ringmeans, the inner, transverse surface of said annular member having atleast one angled portion in contact with said at least one sealingmeans, said angled portion being at such an angle as to force saidsecond sealing means in a generally normal direction into engagementwith said ball-shaped surface when said adjusting means are moved towardsaid annular member.
 5. The ball joint assembly of claim 4 wherein saidsealing ring member is formed of elastomeric material.
 6. A ball jointassembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said fastening means is aretaining ring which is carried in a groove in the inner wall of saidsocket member.
 7. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 6wherein said retaining ring is discontinuous at one portion of itscurcumference, the portions of said retaining ring adjacent saiddiscontinuous portion extending radially inwardly so as to form earswhich are adapted to be engaged by external means for squeezing themtogether to reduce the maximum diameter of the retaining ring and permitthe retaining ring to be assembled into said groove.
 8. A ball jointassembly in accordance with claim 7 and further including means to forcesaid ears away from each other so as to increase the outer diameter ofsaid retaining ring and permit it to more firmly engage the outer wallof the groove in said inner wall of the socket member.
 9. A ball jointassembly in accordance with claim 8 wherein said means to hold said earsapart comprises a turnbuckle member.
 10. A ball join assembly inaccordance with claim 1 wherein said fastening means comprise radiallypositioned screws which pass through the outer wall of said socketmember and into said thrust ring means at positions intermediate saidadjusting means.
 11. A ball joint assembly in accordance with claim 1wherein said ball memBer is mounted within said socket member forpivotal movement of at least 15*.
 12. A ball joint assembly inaccordance with claim 1 wherein said ball member is mounted for pivotalmovement within said socket member over a movement range of at least18*.